ELOY

Eloy's debut is a promising start to one of my favourite bands. It is classic rock first and foremost rather than the prog they would cling onto so dearly in their next few albums, which are masterpieces. It is interesting to hear Eloy revved up with fuzzy guitar riffs and Sabbath like atmospheres. From the outset the guitar riffs crunch along on 'Today' with a Deep Purple style, then it moves to the glorious lengthy 'Something Yellow' driven by psychedelic heavy guitar riffing and a brilliant lead break from Frank Bornemann. He is always integral to the success for the group on vocals too, but I like the vocals also from Erich Schriever on this early Eloy incarnation. The other musicians are Helmut Draht on drums, Wolfgang Stöcker on bass, and Manfred Wieczorke on keyboards. They are all amazing on 'Something Yellow' perhaps the highlight of the album.

'Eloy' is the only time the band refer to their name's sake and this is basically Uriah Heep in sound, and the vocals are similar to Deep Purple. I love the cool riff that ploughs along nicely over a simple beat. The instrumental break is broken by fast conga percussion, a nice lead break and then it locks back to the hypno riff. They speak of a "land of freedom" here and on their next album "Inside" they would speak of a "Land of No body." The band literally transform from this more simple style 2 years later and never look back.

'Song of a paranoid soldier' continues the heavy guitar riff and solid melodic singing. It shifts time sig in this song that is about not wanting to kill anymore, and a desire to return to the green countryside; poignant feelings at the time of recording in 1971. The lead break is terrific and I like the way it captures the 70s paranoia.

'Voice of revolution' has another grooving riff that grabs me but I really like the more peaceful and relaxing vibe on 'Isle of sun' reminding me of where the band would eventually go, producing some of the most beautiful music on the planet. 'Dillus roady' closes things with a Uriah Heep riff sounding very much like 'Gypsy', which I adore so no problems.

Overall, Eloy's debut shows what the band are capable of and features some psychedelic Classic Rock sounds and very cool guitar. The ideas are solid and it is a good start to where they were headed. Of course they took on lengthy compositions with ambient keyboards and very intricate structures later. Nevertheless, a lot of bands would like to have a debut this good and it deserves it's place in birthing one of the greatest space rock bands of the 70s and beyond.